Chickpea Cucumber Salad with Lemon Mint Dressing

This easy chickpea cucumber salad with a lemon mint dressing tossed with a mix of cucumbers, red peppers, scallions and parsley and ready in under 15 minutes. This is an easy no cook meal with tons of nutrients and is loaded with protein and fiber.

This easy chickpea cucumber salad with my lemon mint dressing is full of bright and spicy flavor, and has tons of daily nutrients, protein and fiber. It's the perfect for meal prep to serve as the main meal or as a side. Combine with my stuffed mushrooms, and my chickpea meatballs, to over all your daily nutrient bases.

Jump to:

• Why You'll Love This
• Ingredients Needed
• Equipment Needed
• Steps to Make
• How to Store
• Substitutions
• How to Serve 
• Tips & Tricks
• FAQS
• Healthy Comfort Meals
• 📖 Recipe

Why You'll Love This

This easy cucumber chickpea salad is Mediterranean flavor and healthier than the traditional version with no dairy and gluten-free. It's especially perfect as a make-ahead meal as the flavors get more powerful overnight in the refrigerator. And can be served as a side or as a full meal.

Ingredients Needed

For Chickpea Salad

Chickpeas: Use canned unsalted chickpeas, and rinse them well. I suggest unsalted so you can control the salt in this dish. Of course you can use homemade cooked chickpeas if that's of interest. Shall we talk about how healthy chickpeas are?

Chickpeas are super high in fiber, potassium, B vitamins, iron, magnesium, and selenium. They are known for supporting the heart, including their ability to lower cholesterol levels. [source]

English Cucumbers: English cucumbers are perfect for this salad because they have a strong white inside, perfect for slicing. They come wrapped in plastic, another plus in the name of cleanliness although of course wash them off. Cucumbers, especially the English variety, are high in many essential nutrients including vitamin C, vitamin A, magnesium, and potassium. They are also high in calcium, fiber, and serve to help hydrate. [source]

Tomatoes: I use cherry or grape tomatoes and sometimes I don't dice them as small as I did for these pictures. You can also use large tomatoes. Tomatoes are rich in vitamin C, potassium and folate. Potassium is needed to support your heart, and folate for red blood cell formation. [source]

Bell Pepper: Bell peppers are essential in a salad for the crunch and nutrients they add. Use all colors of bell peppers, red, orange or yellow. They are all super high in vitamin C and fiber. Bell peppers are super good for the eyes, and rich in beta-carotene, potassium, and vitamin A. [source]

Scallions: I love the gentle onion flavor that these little green circles provide, but you can use any kind of onion really. What nutrition do scallions provide? Mostly water and vitamin c. [source]

Fresh Parsley: I choose to use Italian or leafy parsley in this salad so I can chop it finely and it sticks to the chick peas best. But you can use any type of parsley. Parsley nutrition is huge. From vitamin c, to being an anti-viral, to balancing blood sugar and more. Read up on it here in this Healthline article.

For Mint Lemon Dressing

lemon juice. Use pure lemon juice, either freshly squeezed or from a bottle.

olive oil. If you don't like oil in your salad, swap this for water.

red pepper flakes. If you like more heat, add a pinch of cayenne pepper.

mint. Fresh mint tastes best for this salad.

paprika.

salt.

Equipment Needed

• kitchen knife
• salad storage bowls

Steps to Make

Step 1: Open the can of chickpeas, pour the aquafaba (liquid in the can) into ice cube trays and freeze away for other recipes such as my chocolate chip muffins or my chocolate fudge cake. Rinse the chick peas and set aside while you make the dressing.

Step 2: Make the dressing. Chop the mint and measure and combine all ingredients into a blender. Blend the dressing briefly or just put the ingredients in a large bowl.

Step 3: Add the chickpeas to the dressing and toss so the chickpeas coated. Set aside so they marinate while you chop the veggies.

Step 4. Rinse all the vegetables and chop them. The parsley and any other leafy herbs are best rinsed and spun dry if you have a salad spinner, or press between paper towels to dry it off. Then chop finely. Tomatoes and peppers should be diced. Slice them in strips and then dice those.

Step 5. Add the chopped vegetables to the marinating chickpeas and toss everything so all are coated with the dressing. Then sprinkle on black pepper to taste.

Step 6. Refrigerate the finished salad for an hour if you can to add that chill factor.

How to Store

This salad has no dairy ingredients so it can stand out on a buffet table for quite a while, however it really tastes best chilled. It can last 5-7 days in the refrigerator as long as it is covered. You might want to toss it again in a bit of lemon juice after a day or so if the salad seems a bit dry.

Substitutions

Vegetables. The vegetables in this salads are completely customizable. I use cucumber, red peppers, scallions and parsley, but you can add or subtract your favorite raw vegetables.

Canned chickpeas. I prefer canned chickpeas always, because I'm lazy, haha. But I also always buy unsalted and organic canned chickpeas which have no added ingredients. If you want to cook them yourself, it's easy, just a bit time-consuming. Studies show that the nutritional value between cooked from scratch chickpeas and canned is the same provided you buy unsalted organic chickpeas. [source]

How to Serve 

This chickpea salad can be a meal or a side, you choose. You can add more protein for fun, but it doesn't need it with 10 gms protein in every cup. My favorite way to serve it is with a hefty bread - I chose a grain bread but you can use a lighter pita or a French baguette.

Tips & Tricks

This salad is so simple, there are only a few recommendations I can make:

1. Use quality canned chickpeas. I use unsalted, organic from Whole Food's 365 brand but there are other good unsalted organic brands including Eden. Try to avoid brands that add salt and other additives.

2. Rinse canned chickpeas very well.

3. Dry leafy herbs and parsley before cutting to get a clean chipped look that tosses nicely with oiled chick peas.

4. Marinate the chickpeas overnight if you can or at least for 30 minutes for best flavor.

5. Eat this salad chilled if you can for best flavor.

6. Double the dressing if you prefer more; the recipe amount only just coats.

7. You can use either lemon or lime juice for the dressing.

FAQS

Read below answers to a few questions that often come up regarding chickpeas.

Are Chickpeas Good for Weight Loss?

Yes, chickpeas help with weight loss because all that protein and fiber makes one feel full and less hungry. One cup has 10 gm protein and 9 gm fiber.

Can You Eat Chickpeas Raw?

No, as with many beans, chickpeas need to be cooked to be edible. You can buy them canned - unsalted is healthiest so you can control salt intake, or you can boil dried chickpeas to cook them yourself.

What to Pair Chickpeas With?

Chickpeas are extraordinarily versatile. They can be tossed in salads as in this recipe, or mashed and form the basis of many recipes, including these chickpea meatballs, and these protein donuts.

How Many Calories Does Chickpea Salad Have?

My chickpea salad recipe here has a total of 240 calories in 1 serving of this salad and most of the calories though come from protein, fiber and healthy fats.

Healthy Comfort Meals

• Chickpea Vegan Meatballs
• Green Olive Tapenade
• Quinoa Artichoke Vegan Paella
• Grilled Portobello Mushroom Steaks
• Italian Vegan Stuffed Mushrooms
• Jackfruit BBQ Sandwiches

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